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WRITTEN BY: <\/b>NORMAN WHITFIELD
\nAND BARRETT STRONG<\/p>\n
RECORDED: <\/b>MOTOWN, DETROIT<\/p>\n
PRODUCED BY: <\/b>NORMAN WHITFIELD<\/p>\n
MARVIN GAYE: <\/b>VOCALS<\/p>\n
JAMES JAMERSON: <\/b>BASS<\/p>\n
RICHARD \u201cPISTOL\u201d ALLEN: <\/b>DRUMS<\/p>\n
ROBERT WHITE: <\/b>ELECTRIC GUITAR <\/b><\/p>\n
EARL VAN DYKE: <\/b>ORGAN\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
THE ANDANTES: <\/b>BACKING VOCALS<\/p>\n
PAUL RISER: <\/b>STRINGS<\/p>\n
FROM THE ALBUM: <\/b>I HEARD IT THROUGH
\nTHE GRAPEVINE!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Though it has become one of Motown\u2019s signature songs and most successful singles ever, Marvin Gaye\u2019s \u201cI Heard It Through the Grapevine\u201d was almost never released. The song began its life in 1967, when label writer Barrett Strong hammered out the chord changes on a $40 piano that had only 10 working keys. \u201cI was always a fan of Ray Charles, and this, like so many of my best feels, was based on what Ray was doing,\u201d said Strong.<\/p>\n
The tune was originally ruled by record company execs as being \u201ctoo bluesy\u201d to fit with the poppier vibe of what Motown was releasing at the time. Undeterred, Strong found a sympathetic ear in up-and-coming producer Norman Whitfield. After Whitfield matched the tune with a lyric about a lover tortured by rumors and lies, the song was first recorded by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and then recorded again by the Isley Brothers. But neither version troubled the charts.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Whitfield turned to Marvin Gaye. Over a brilliant arrangement that features a brooding Wurlitzer-driven groove and stabbing strings, Gaye brought the song to life with his fierce, pleading vocal. For Gaye, the production of the tune carried some thorny memories. \u201cNorman and I came within a fraction of an inch of fighting,\u201d he said. \u201cHe made me sing in keys much higher than I was used to. I was reaching for notes that caused my throat veins to bulge.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the real difficulties began after the song was recorded. Motown deemed Gaye\u2019s version of \u201cGrapevine\u201d not commercial enough for release, and it was quickly shelved. An angry but determined Whitfield marched back into the studio, this time recasting the song as an uptempo Aretha-style shouter for Gladys Knight and the Pips. The song was released, and Knight\u2019s version shot to No. 2 on the charts.<\/p>\n
But that didn\u2019t satisfy Whitfield. A year later, he was still lobbying for the release of Gaye\u2019s version, which he was convinced could be an even bigger hit. In his autobiography To Be Loved<\/i>, Motown president Berry Gordy recalled, \u201cI told Norman it was too late. It would be crazy to release the same song so soon after it had been a hit for Gladys and the Pips.\u201d But Whitfield was steadfast. \u201cBerry told him, \u2018Get out of my face. Mention that record again and you\u2019re fired!\u2019,\u201d said Strong.<\/p>\n
Finally Gordy relented, agreeing to add the song as filler to Gaye\u2019s 1968 album,
\nIn the Groove<\/i>. The story may have ended there if it weren\u2019t for a Chicago disc jockey. When he spun the song\u2014instead of the single the label was pushing, \u201cYour Unchanging Love\u201d\u2014the phones lit up. Radio stations across the nation quickly followed suit, and within weeks the album, In the Groove<\/i> had been retitled by Motown as I Heard It Through the Grapevine!<\/i>. Meanwhile, the single sold more copies than any previous release in the label\u2019s history\u2014staying on top of the charts for a whopping seven weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI Heard It Through the Grapevine\u201d has since become a staple of oldies radio\u2014and thanks to exposure on film soundtracks like The Big Chill<\/i> and TV ads like the California raisins campaign, it\u2019s earned a permanent place in American pop culture. It also ranked 80th on Rolling Stone<\/i>\u2019s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and has been covered by many acts, from Creedence Clearwater Revival to Ike and Tina Turner to Michael McDonald.\u00a0 Two years later, Gaye would go through a similar struggle with Gordy over another single they deemed unreleasable, \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013Bill DeMain<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WRITTEN BY: NORMAN WHITFIELD AND BARRETT STRONG RECORDED: MOTOWN, DETROIT PRODUCED BY: NORMAN WHITFIELD MARVIN GAYE: VOCALS JAMES JAMERSON: BASS RICHARD \u201cPISTOL\u201d ALLEN: DRUMS ROBERT WHITE: ELECTRIC GUITAR EARL VAN DYKE: ORGAN\u00a0 THE ANDANTES: BACKING VOCALS PAUL RISER: STRINGS FROM THE ALBUM: I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE! \u201cI Heard It Through the Grapevine\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5264],"tags":[7190,7195,7188,7192,1022,7191,7189,7197,7193,7194,7196],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10963"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10963"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10965,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10963\/revisions\/10965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}